Improvement in targets



C. BU'CKNER, lr.

Target Patented April 20,1875.

FIC. l.

Uivrrnn Sra'rns PATENT Grrron.

CHARLES BUCKNER, JR., OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALFHIS RIGHT TO JOHANN H. A. LUDWIG, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN TARGETS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 162,149, dated April20, 1875; application filed June 19, 1874.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES BUCKNER, J r., of the city and county of SanFrancisco, State of California, have invented an Improved Game, termedDevils Appetite, ot' which the following is a specification:

My invention relates to a game target or apparatus consisting of a boarderected, on which a design ot' a devil is painted, with large head andopen mouth, and so arranged, by mechanism connected with a gongrepresenting the inside of this mouth, that when sott balls are thrown,and properly directed so as to hit the same, they shall strike thisgong, and cause a small imp to rise above the head oithis devil,pointing downward and to his own mouth to intimate t-hat the shots havebeen well thrown 5 and a gallery is or may be also so constructed thatthese balls thus well aimed shall be made to fall beyond this tigure,and roll down an inclined plane below the iiooring back again to thethrower.

Figure l is a longitudinal elevation ot' a board with the design of adevil painted thereon, having a large open mouth with gong at the back,and small imp at the top ofthe head, constituting part ot thegame-target embodyingl my invention. Fig. 2 is a transverse verticalsection ot' Fig. 1, showing the mechanism from the gong at the back ofthe mouth ot' the design for actuating the imp, constituting part ot'the game-target apparatus embodying my invention. Fig. 3 is aperspective view ot' agallery with iigure described erected at the end.

A A is a board, on which a figure of a devil, D, has been painted, thehead H being ot' rather large proportions compared to the body, andprovided with an open mouth, m m, cut

out ot' the wood, so as to allow ot' balls being thrown through. At theback of this mouth m m, and some distance away from it, a gong, G, isplaced, so that such balls may impinge thereon, and it is connected by arod, i, with a lever-arm, h, the end of which K forms a catch, a, to atooth, t, of a curved lever, L L. At one end of this lever L L a weight,W, is hung, and at the other a piece of sheet metal bearing arepresentation of an imp, I, is adjusted, so as to slide within thegrooves g g provided on the metallic part of the board A A as this leverL L pivots on its axis o.

In Figs. 1 and 2 the imp I is shown shot up by reason of a ball, B,having struck the gong G, while the dotted lines show the originalposition ot' the mechanism, wherein the catch a is set to the tooth t,and the imp I is hidden' behind the head H.

NVhen, however, a ball is properly directed, so as to pass through themouth m m and impinge on the gong G, it instantly forces it to emit amusical sound, and causes the catch a to be disengaged from the tooth t,and' the weight l being then unsupported falls down, and shoots up theimp I, which is represented as pointing to the object struck. The ballthus thrown falls down the channel C, and rolls along the incline T Tunder the flooring F F, so as to return to where the thrower is supposedto be-at the stand S-and be again ready for use.

For resetting the mechanism after a ball has struck the gong G andraised the imp I, a thin rope, s, is, or may be, attached to theprojecting arm N of the lever h, and is adjusted over the pulley p, soas to pass under the incline T T, and be at hand at some convenientplace near the stand S, so that by pulling the same the weight W may beraised, and the catch a again adjusted to the tooth t.

I do not contine myself to the mouth-opening m m, in the game hereindescribed, as such aperture may be in any other suitable part of thebody of the image, and I also do not claim the mechanism consistingessentially ot' the levers L L K, weight W, as I am aware that this isnot new, and that a variety ot' means may be devised to accomplish thesame purpose; but

I claim as my invention- The target herein described, consistingessentially ot' the board A, igure D, opening m in, sliding ligure I,levers L h, and gong G, all combined and arranged to operatesubstantially as and for the purposes set forth.

CHARLES BUCKNER, JR.

Witnesses:

ALFRED C. CRANE, LIONEL VARroAs.

